Kanye Hides Behind His Hat Once Again

Kanye West once again sparked controversy following his Sept. 29 “Saturday Night Live” performance. As the show was ending, Kanye decided to take to the stage once more, uninvited, to share his scrambled interpretation of what his “Make America Great Again” hat means, while also crying that he was bullied.

Prior to Kanye’s initial appearance during the opening monologue, some cast members advised Kanye to “possibly not wear the hat.” However, in Kanye fashion, rather than comprehending this moment as an offer of advice, Kanye decided to play the victim and whine that he was bullied. Considering Kanye’s history of drunkedly berating Taylor Swift at the 2009 VMA broadcasting and taking aim at Amber Rose and Wiz Khalifa’s son, Kanye is no stranger to bullying.

During Kanye’s interrupted rant at the end of the show, he attempted to preach to the audience how we must “follow your heart, not your mind.” Well, Kanye, you have no choice but to follow your heart, considering you lost your mind years ago. During the monstrosity that was supposed to be the end of the show, only a few distant cheers can be heard, while the rest of studio was filled with awkward silence and utter disgust.

Aside from Kanye’s unfortunate return to the stage, the moment that sparked the most controversy was his tweet following the performance. As many bullies do, Kanye decided to hide behind the comfort of his phone screen and tweet about his interpretation of what the MAGA hat means to him. Kanye interprets the infamous red hat as representing “good and America becoming whole again.” Yet, some can argue, this country was never whole to begin with. Christopher Columbus discovered only part of what is now the Americas, with the 13 original colonies being the foundation. Much of the land that “makes America great” was purchased from European countries or stolen from Native Americans. America is anything but whole and balanced. Rather, America is very much like you mentally, Mr. West: unstable and in need of help. Stomping around in a red hat and slurring that we need to follow our hearts is not going to make this country whole again.

Just in case anyone was not questioning Kanye’s education on American history yet, he continued to type that we must abolish the 13th Amendment, the same amendment that abolished slavery, which he considers a choice. Well, if everything is a choice Mr. West, it would truly be “great” if you spend as much time educating yourself on American history as you do tweeting and hiding behind your wife every time she has to come to your defense. Not only is Kanye’s plea to abolish the 13th Amendment historically insensitive, it is more-so disrespectful to all individuals who survived slavery and those who fought to see the amendment ratified.

One of the many amendments that makes this country so desirable for immigrants is our First Amendment of the freedom of speech. However, with this amendment comes the responsibility to educate ourselves. It is our duty to know our history, formulate our opinions on our beliefs and seek to educate ourselves on different issues.

Kanye, you have been granted a platform to share your visions and beliefs, but you continue to fall into a concerning state of ignorance. You have the resources to educate yourself, you have the money to seek help and yet you still lack all capacity to do so. Be a role model for your kids, get help and be better. Instead of ending your tweet with “message sent with love,” you should have ended with “message sent with ignorance.”